Strays
by Irk Splee
Summary: After a particularly violent tongue lashing from Blik, Waffle flees into the woods and meets someone who just might know a thing or two about his ancestry... Complete. T for death, violence, and general nastiness.
1. Prologue

MAKE BLOODY SURE THAT YOU HAVE READ "FROM KITTENS TO CATS", "SURE SIGNS", AND "DANIEL" FOR THIS STORY TO HAVE FULL EFFECT. This chapter takes place during "Daniel"; this is basically what Audrey didn't see. There will be two chapters, the second one posted... um... whenever. I don't quite have a set date. ;; And never fear, for while this chapter is rather lacking of characters ACTUALLY FROM THE SHOW, chapter two will remedy that. So please don't kill me with a pitchfork yet.

* * *

The December night was unseasonably warm. There was only a slight breeze, just enough to blow the brown, dead leaves across the forest. High above the trees in the starry sky, a full moon shone. All in all, everything seemed peaceful and perfect; a contrast to what was about to happen below. Deep in the middle of the woods sat a calico female, waiting intently for something. She didn't move at all, not even when a scrawny, black-patched cat came strolling into the area.

"Hello, Daniel," she said to him, still not moving. The only change in her expression was the fact that her eyes narrowed into a glare. Daniel did not notice this, or more likely, he chose to ignore it. "Where have you been?" she asked. "I was waiting."

"None of your business, Camilla," Daniel responded. "You seem to forget that I'm the leader and you're only second in command. There are some things that are only for me to know." Camilla did not seem to like this answer at all. "Now, Camilla," Daniel continued, "there's something we have to discuss. I-" Daniel's eyes fell upon a small figure. "What is this?" he asked, walking over to it. It was an orange kitten, fast asleep. Camilla walked over with Daniel and the kitten.

"My latest rescue. Max helped me with him. Good thing, too, since he had to get this stupid thing off of his neck," she said, picking a ripped collar off of the ground with her mouth and dropping it at Daniel's feet. He bent down to get a better look. In the moonlight, he could read the name on the collar's charm.

"Brutus..." he read out loud. He then looked back up at the kitten. "Where'd you find him?"

"I saw him in his human's front yard. There was no one there, but he kept tugging at the collar as if it was choking him... I figured they weren't treating him very well, so I asked if he wanted to come with me. You'd think I was taking him from Hell itself, the way his face lit up... I don't want to know what was going on in there."

"So you stole someone's pet," Daniel said and then sighed. "Honestly, Camilla, sometimes I wonder about you."

"Sometimes I wonder about humans," Camilla scoffed. "They're horrid, horrid animals... don't you think?" The glare returned to her eyes. She watched Daniel intently, knowing what his answer would be.

"Now, Camilla, I've explained this before. Some humans are just awful, true, but not all of them are like that. You really should stop viewing them all in such a negative light. Why won't you give it a chance?"

"I thought so," Camilla responded. "Really... I should have expected such an answer from a cat who would stoop so low as to choose a housecat as a mate!"

Daniel's eyes widened. "How... how did you know?"

"You were gone a LOT recently," Camilla answered. "I was so WORRIED about you, since I never saw you anymore... so I decided that I would follow you and see just what was up. A good choice, too, seeing as you're now in the clutches of one of those human supporters..."

Daniel bent down in a fighting position, claws unsheathed. "So that WAS you! I thought that was you following me! When, Camilla, WHEN will you learn to respect my privacy?! What I do away from here is none of your business!"

"It is when you're going against the very honor of a cat and being near those twoleggers. Just because your sister is such a fool doesn't mean you should be..."

"LEAVE ERIKA OUT OF THIS!" Daniel roared. "I should have listened to her while I had the chance... she was right, Camilla. She told me you were INSANE and she was right! Do you even have any idea what true honor is?! There is none of it in this idiotic brand of racism you possess! You're no honorable cat, you... you're... you're a MONSTER!"

"Now, are you entirely sure crossing me is the best idea at the moment?" Camilla asked calmly. Their argument was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes. Camilla looked over at the source of the noise. "MAX!" she called. "Max! Get over here!" From out of the trees stepped a large, dark gray animal who more closely resembled a panther than a domestic feline. There were no pupils visible in his gleaming yellow eyes. His eyes also showed no kindness. Max was a cat raised to fight without remorse from birth, and every inch of him radiated his fact. This was not someone to rub the wrong way unless you possessed a death wish.

"Max. Fetch," Camilla commanded, nodding over to the bushes. With a nod and a gruff growl, Max obeyed Camilla's order without question. He went where Camilla had indicated. After a few seconds of silence, there was a loud pained squeal and a hiss. Max stepped out of the bushes clutching a small white cat by the scruff of her neck in his jaws.

"Put me down, you brute!" Erika cried, squirming and panting for breath. In a way, Max respected her wishes, throwing at Camilla's feet. Before Erika could react, Camilla's paw was on her throat, claws extended.

"How kind of you to drop in," Camilla purred as Erika struggled to escape. "We were just discussing you... weren't we, Daniel?"

"Let her go, Camilla," Daniel said, trying not to let his worry show in his voice. "I'll leave and I'll take her with me. I'll never come back, I promise. Just let go of her! She didn't do anything to you!"

"On the contrary," Camilla replied, not moving her paw. "Not only was she spying on us, but according to you she called me something rather unkind. I thought you disagreed with spying and name-calling. Don't you think she should be taught a lesson?"

"Let her GO!" Daniel shouted. "I swear, Camilla, if you kill my sister I will make you pay for it! This is your last chance!"

"Very well." Camilla raised her paw from Erika's neck. She immediately seized the chance to rush to her brother's side. "Go," Camilla said. "Get out of my sight, and take the little slave of humans with you! You said I was on my last chance, Daniel? Well, so are you. LEAVE."

"Gladly," Daniel spat. "Come on, Erika." He quickly turned to leave. Erika stayed to glare at Camilla and Max for what they had done, but Max's growl convinced her that she should get moving. Camilla watched until they were out of sight.

"Max?" she asked. "They promised that I'd never see them alive again. Would you please make it certain that they keep this promise?"

Max understood full well what was being asked of him. He followed Daniel and Erika slowly, much more quietly than one would expect from a creature his size. Camilla had taught him well. "And that is that," she said to herself, a wicked smirk on her face. "Two more human lovers down..." Satisfied that she would never see the Quid cats again, she went over to the still sleeping Brutus, picked him up in her mouth, and retired to her sleeping quarters. At first glance, it would have seemed that no more living beings remained in the area. But behind a tree sat another calico. The pattern on her fur was identical to Camilla's, but there was no way that this could be her. In her face there was fear and guilt, two expressions Camilla would never display. She went in the same direction as Max, attempting to keep quiet. She had to know; just what was going to happen to those two...?

* * *

The two members of the Quid family walked the deserted pavement, headed towards the Cramdilly house just as Daniel had promised to Audrey. Daniel was incredibly bitter, an emotion which showed on his face.

"I still don't believe it..." Daniel grumbled, partially to himself. "How could I have been so stupid? I actually thought I could change her... I thought I could make her see she was wrong..." he sighed. "Am I always such an idiot, Erika?"

"Don't say that, Dan," Erika scolded her brother. "We all make mistakes. You were just trying to save who you could from her... I'd say that holds much more honor that Camilla thinks. She was just a nutcase. Nothing tonight was your fault."

"I suppose..." Daniel muttered, still not entirely convinced that he hadn't screwed something up somewhere down the line. "But after tonight, I don't think you can go back home. You'd have to go through those woods, and if you ran into Camilla or Max... I'd rather not think about what would happen then. I can't let you go back there, Erika."

"My humans are going to freak," Erika said, "but you're right. I'm going to miss it, but... there's no other way, huh?"

Daniel shook his head. "No other way."

"I don't think I'm cut out for street life, though," Erika said. "That'd probably be even more dangerous than going back home. So now what?"

"Edna probably wouldn't mind," Daniel suggested. "You could come stay with me. Besides, the kids would probably like having an aunt like you. It'd be great. Edna's such a great caretaker, and maybe you could even help with the kittens. You're such a motherly type."

"So you're inviting me?" Erika said, almost in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't I invite my own sister? I'm not leaving you to die out here, Erika."

The two of them exchanged a smile. Silence fell between them as they continued heading for new life. Daniel had never felt more free; he was no longer tied to the group, he didn't have to worry about Camilla or what she thought anymore... Audrey was going to be safe... his family was going to be safe...

His ears suddenly pricked up. "Erika. Hide. Now. I think I heard someone following us..." he whispered.

"But-"

"I'll take care of this, Erika. You hide. Don't even continue to the house, just get out of sight until I figure this out."

Knowing that her brother probably knew best, Erika nodded and ducked behind a cluster of trash cans. Daniel turned around. He knew just who could be following him that quietly; he almost didn't hear at all...

"Hello, Max," he said before even seeing him. Knowing that he had been found, Max stepped out of the shadows and into view, his lips folded back in a snarl.

"Going to have a little fight, are we?" Daniel asked, sounding more bored than afraid. In a swift motion, Max pounced forward. Daniel jumped back, barely dodging Max's large bear-like paw. He swung his own claws in defense, but Max shot out and gripped Daniel's wrist to prevent his attack. Max then flipped Daniel into an alleyway, slamming him right into the wall. Unwilling to give up, Daniel struggled to his feet. "You... you won't win... I won't let you, Max... I won't let you win... you'll never- AAAGH!" Max had sunk his teeth into Daniel's back in the middle of his speech.

"Let... GO!" Daniel hissed, but for once, Max did not listen to a command addressed to him. After a few violent shakes, Max finally tossed Daniel back into the wall. After deciding that Daniel was going to die soon and no further effort was needed, he walked away and headed back towards the woods to report his kill. He'd hunt for the other one later...

Erika went into the alleyway as soon as Max was out of sight. "Daniel...?"

"Go get Audrey," Daniel asked. "Please... please bring her here... I want to see her one more time..."

Erika nodded and fled to grant Daniel's dying wish.

In the shadows, the same calico who had watched earlier sat. Shaking and panting, she rose to her feet and rushed back to the woods. Camilla would give her hell if she was found to be missing. Only one thought echoed through her mind as she ran...

Was there anything she could have done...?


	2. The Runaway

I WAS going to wait until I finished completely, but short little scenes keep turning into three pages and let's face it, you want an update before Christmas. I don't know HOW much I'm going to split this, honestly. I promise to figure something out. It's not the writing that confuses me- it's the splitting things into chapters so it doesn't take years for you to see! Oh, and yes, I did change the summary. The old one seemed a bit stupid. Pardon that.

* * *

Two months had passed since one of the biggest snowstorms Bakersfield had ever seen. Winter's chill was finally beginning to fade and make way for springtime warmth. Outside the Cramdilly household, a gray cat was taking advantage of the heat. Waffle crouched down on the lawn, his eyes focused on an orange butterfly sitting on a blade of grass. 

"Creep..." he said softly to himself, slowly inching towards his prey. After the previous year's embarrassment regarding the Mouse Hunters' Ball, Waffle was determined to learn how to hunt properly once and for all. He'd never actually kill his catch, he swore to himself; just catch it between his paws and then let it go... but being able to get that far had been eluding him all his life. True, his technique of just scooping up whatever it was with his paw had worked a few times, but not only did Blik insist that this was "wrong", mice and other common animals of prey had a tendency to bite.

"Creep..." he whispered again, moving a bit closer. Once he was sure that he was near enough and that the butterfly was none the wiser to his presence, he made his move.

"POUNCE!" he shouted and did so, but the butterfly had chosen that moment to fly away.

"Wait! Come back!" Waffle called, running after it and matching its own slow pace as to not go under it. The butterfly finally chose another resting place; the rim of a glass root beer bottle. Grinning wickedly, Waffle crouched again, repeating his earlier routine.

"Creep... and... POUNCE!" he cried, launching himself across the lawn. The butterfly once again made its escape, but the bottle was not so lucky. Its entire contents spilled all over the grass. Waffle looked up in fear at the beverage's owner, knowing just what to expect.

"WAFFLE!" Blik shouted, glaring daggers down at his brother. "What did you just do?!"

"I... thought maybe I could catch it without touching the bottle..." Waffle murmured, staring down at the grass. Being yelled at by Blik is one of the last things anyone ever wanted, and for someone as easily hurt as Waffle, it was downright devastating.

"Catch- you know what? I REALLY have no care to know what it is that you were doing." With a sigh, Blik reached into the cooler next to the beach chair he was sitting on and withdrew another drink. "Just go busy yourself elsewhere, would you? And get rid of that bottle! You spilled it, so you'll throw it out!"

With a dejected nod, Waffle picked up the thankfully intact bottle and sped off to the nearest recycling bin. After watching him leave, Blik removed the cap of his new bottle with his claw and began to guzzle.

"Slow down, Blik, you're gonna drown yourself with those things." Blik looked over towards the speaker. In the beach chair on the other side of the cooler sat a yellow cat with her brown hair pulled back into pigtails with purple ribbons. She too clutched a half-full bottle, her first one of the day.

"I'm wondering how you can drink it so slowly, Katilda. Don't you think it's one of the greatest drinks on Earth?" Blik asked.

"It's OK, I guess. Nothing special." She took another swig and leaned back. "It's so nice out today..." she commented wistfully. "And to think, two months ago we were rolling around in the snow."

"Two months..." Blik repeated. "It's been that long, hasn't it..." He looked over at Katilda and smiled. She smiled back with her eyes narrowed slightly, making for a rather devious grin.

"So... Blik..." she started, her tail swishing. "What are you doing all the way over there, exactly?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm not really sure." He drained the root beer bottle and chucked it across the yard. "How about we fix that little fact?" With a smirk and a purr, Katilda left her chair and took a place right next to Blik on his.

"Fixed," she said, still smirking. "So now what?"

"Oh, I have some ideas..." Blik replied. He edged closer to Katilda...

"I threw it out!"

"WHAAA?!" Blik jerked up in shock, not expecting any sort of sound. He looked around for the source of the voice. Waffle was standing behind the chair, leaning on the back.

"I threw the bottle away," he repeated. "Just figured I'd let ya know."

"That's... great..." Blik growled through his teeth. "Could you go now? We're kind of BUSY, if you haven't noticed."

"Busy? With what? Whatcha doin'?" Waffle pried.

"None of your business!" Blik snapped.

"I bet you were KISSIN'..." Waffle giggled, apparently not noticing Blik's seething.

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Blik screamed at the top of his lungs. A few birds flew out of a nearby tree; even the city's pigeons knew that a place with an angry Mr. Blik was not a place to be. With a final snicker, Waffle wandered off, still stifling his laughter. With a final eye roll, Blik returned his attentions to the most important task at hand.

"Ignore him," Blik told Katilda, his suave tone slowly returning to his voice. "Now... where were we..."

"I kinda like Waffle's idea," Katilda suggested, climbing on top of Blik. His smile wider than ever, he closed his eyes and slowly moved closer...

"I KNEW IT!"

"YAGH!"

"OOOF!" Blik jumped in surprise at Waffle's exclamation, causing Katilda to topple off of his chest and onto the ground.

"I knew what you were doing!" Waffle snickered.

"Waffle." Blik started. "I. Told. You. We. Were. BUSY-"

Waffle was far too lost in his discovery of Blik's activities to even notice. "Blik and Katilda, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"CUT IT OUT!" Blik shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to ignore the fact that he was blushing beet red.

"Waffle..." Katilda warned, attempting to raise her voice over the two of them. "Waffle, you really shouldn't, Blik's getting mad-" Her warning went ignored. All three cats began to scream over each other, none of them truly being heard by the others.

"First comes the love-"

"STOP!"

"Waffle, please-"

"Then comes the marriage-"

"ONE MORE WORD, WAFFLE-"

"Blik, Waffle, stop it, you're both being childish-"

"Then come the kittens in the-"

SMACK.

Being slapped by Blik was nothing new for Waffle, but usually it was just a quick swat that would snap him back into reality or serve as a sign of "you're doing something stupid, so stop". Very rarely did it actually hurt, and never before had it been so hard that Waffle was knocked to the ground. For the first time in his life, Blik actually managed to stand over someone and glower down.

"I told you to SHUT UP, you ridiculous hairball!" Blik shouted. "Why did you not LISTEN?! Why, why the HELL don't you ever LISTEN?!"

Katilda tapped Blik on the shoulder. "Aren't you being a bit harsh-"

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Blik swiveled around and shouted, not even thinking about what he was doing. He then turned back to Waffle, angrier than ever. "For the final time! Leave us ALONE, Waffle! Your little idea of fun has been getting on my nerves for the longest time, but I dealt with it, and you know why? Because you're my brother and I'm SUPPOSED to tolerate your blathering! But I HAVE HAD ENOUGH, WAFFLE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! ENOUGH!"

Waffle pushed himself to his feet. "Blik... Blik, I'm sorry..."

"I. Don't. CARE." Blik said, seething. "Just get out of my sight."

Whimpering, Waffle nodded and walked off. Blik expected him to head into the house, but he instead walked out of the yard and headed down the block and out of sight.

"I'm really sorry about him," Blik said, turning to Katilda and smiling. "But now we can return to what we were doing... he's not around to bother us..."

"No thank you," Katilda replied.

Blik's jaw dropped. How could anyone turn him down? Especially his own mate! "But we were just- come on, Katilda-"

"No. Not after that display...no," Katilda said. "Blik... didn't you notice anything... familiar about what you just did to him?"

"What do you- ...oh." Blik drooped as he realized that what he just did to Waffle was what almost lost him Katilda two months ago. "But... you don't understand, he always does this... it was about time someone scolded him for it..."

"Not like that, Blik! No one deserves that!" Katilda sighed. "Look... I'm just gonna head home now... I'm not in the mood to hang out anymore..."

"Look, I'm- I'm sorry about this- I just- I-" Blik stuttered, desperate not to screw everything up with her.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Katilda replied coolly. "So long." And with that, she walked away. Blik didn't dare follow.

* * *

"Stupid Blik..." 

Waffle headed down the street without a clue in his head where he was going. He kicked a pebble and groaned.

"He didn't have to yell at me..." Waffle muttered to himself. "I was just trying to have some fun... Katilda didn't seem to mind, so why...?" He began to sniffle. "Am... am I really that annoying?" Waffle turned and looked behind him in the direction of the house; at least, where he thought the house was. Not only did he not know where he was headed, he couldn't even guess where he was currently.

"Maybe I should... no. I'm not going home. Blik'll just yell at me again. He doesn't want me there..." He dropped to all fours and looked down at his stomach. It had begun growling loudly.

"I'm hungry..." he muttered. He continued down the block slowly, as if he hadn't eaten in days. Perhaps this was an over-reaction on his part, but the rich didn't tend to deal with these things so well. And besides, he rationalized, maybe someone would take pity and throw him something...

"Well. Hello there," said a voice.

"Huh? Where-" Waffle looked around wildly, forgetting his 'I'm hungry so pity me and give me a scrap' act.

"Right here." Waffle looked up. A calico cat was sitting on an alley way wall. She leaped down and walked up to Waffle. "You OK there?"

"N- no," Waffle lied, which laid heavily on his conscience. "I'm so hungry... I haven't eaten in- in days," he came up with a fake length of time. "Would you happen to have something for me to eat? Please? I don't have anything to offer, but... I need food..."

"You're a bit pudgy for someone who's starving," the calico observed. She then smirked. "Of course, you must be so used to food that you can't take being without it."

"Erm, yeah... that's it..." Waffle replied, caught in his lie.

The stranger started to laugh. "Whatever to steal a meal, eh? You seem like a clever one." Waffle had never heard the word 'clever' in a sentence involving him, except maybe 'he's not clever enough to make his way out of a cardboard box'.

"You actually think I'm clever for doing that?"

The stranger nodded. "You know, you seem like the type I'd like to introduce to my little pack out in the woods. It's getting to be feeding time... wanna come and get a bite?"

Waffle nodded enthusiastically. "Listen, I don't have anywhere to go, so... could I stay? Please?"

"Of course, little guy," she responded. "What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Waffle," Waffle responded with his first smile since leaving. "Waffle Cramdilly-Quid."

The stranger froze in surprise. "Erm, I'm sorry, I... didn't catch your last name-"

"Cramdilly-Quid," Waffle replied. "Cramdilly was my mom's and Quid was my dad's. Neither of my brothers use both names, but I do. It's respectful. Don't you think?"

"Yes, respectful, right," she said, not quite paying attention past "Quid". Could he possibly be...? And he said he had brothers? Interesting...

"Well, I bet it'll be great to have you in the pack, Waffle. My name is Camilla."

* * *

Blik had been outside alone for hours. He leaned back in his chair, clutching the final bottle of root beer. Its contents had been drained a while ago, while it was still light. Now Blik was sitting under the moon and stars, thinking about the day's events. 

"What did I do? What the hell did I DO?" he groaned to himself. Yelling at Waffle had become daily routine; a day without doing so was a day undone. Problem was, after the initial tears, Waffle tended to come out of his scoldings relatively unharmed. He was rarely affected too negatively by Blik's screaming, and even then he'd bounce back eventually. Only once had it caused him to actually run away... and that time...

Blik shuddered. He knew full well that his brother was far too friendly and dumb as a post when it came to telling which people he should befriend and which he should get away from quick. Last time he got himself landed in a pound and almost devoured. What if something happened again...? Maybe Blik screamed and belittled Waffle on a daily basis, but the truth remained that he did care whether he lived or died and preferred the former choice for him. Not only that, but Katilda was very obviously displeased with Blik's behavior.

"And... I yelled at her..." Blik said to no one in particular. Even dumber than yelling at Waffle was yelling at Katilda like that, telling her to stay out of things.

"She was just trying to help..." he scolded himself. "And you probably just destroyed every single ounce of respect she had for you. Way to go, Blik." Thanks to one rant, his brother was possibly in mortal danger, his mate had lost all interest in him, and there could have been one more potential problem...

"Mr. Blik?" a heavily-accented voice came across the yard from the front porch. "Are ye still out here?"

And there it was. If Gordon found out that he had chased Waffle off again... Blik needed another lecture on honor and kindness from an overweight delusional faux-Scotsman like he needed a hole in his head. But as out-of-it as Gordon could be, he'd surely notice Waffle's disappearance. Blik had to say SOMETHING about it.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Blik called.

"And what for, laddie? It's almost midnight. Are ye not coming inside at all?"

"I'll be right in," Blik replied, dropping his empty bottle back into the cooler. He slowly rose from the chair and made his way up to the house, dreading the inevitable conversation with Gordon. It wasn't the scolding he feared; it was Gordon's tendency to not shut up about things only he cared about. Maybe he could escape from the stupid lecture...

"What were ye doing out there alone, anyway?" Gordon asked as Blik made his way up the steps.

"I was with Katilda, she left, and I just decided to stay out there a bit longer," Blik replied, though he wished to add more to this sentence; 'I just decided to stay out there a bit longer because I did something that I know you're going to yell at me for and I'm seriously not in the mood for that right now. Or ever, come to think of it.'

"I see..." Gordon replied, slightly suspicious as Blik's actions, but decided to let it slide. "Oh, and another thing... have ye seen Waffle? I saw him go outside and that was it. Did ye happen to notice where the lad went off to?"

Blik chuckled nervously. "Erm, yeah... about that..."

* * *

Camilla had been leading Waffle through the woods for hours now. Her originally friendly demeanor was quickly beginning to deteriorate; if she didn't need this kid to find the other Quids, she probably would have strangled him within the first five minutes of the trip. 

"I told you, down on your front paws," Camilla hissed at Waffle.

"But I'm slow that way..." Waffle whined. "Why can't I walk like this? It's how I always walk. C'mon, what's it matter?"  
"Strays don't DO that! If you want to be an alley cat, you'd best do it properly!" Camilla tried her hardest to be patient with him, but she was beginning to question whether this was truly Daniel's son. Irritating as he was, Camilla had to admit that Daniel was very clever for a human lover. _How could any offspring of his be so whiny and brain dead?_, she wondered to herself.

_Must come from his mother's side of the family._

"But there's rocks and sticks and thorns and stuff on the ground," Waffle protested, that grating whine still present in his voice. It HURTS."

Camilla stopped dead. "Do it, Waffle. I am not taking another step forward until you do as I say, you hear me? You said you wanted to join the pack, didn't you?"

Waffle didn't reply in words. He just nodded weakly.

"Then as a member of my pack, that means I am your boss. You will do what I tell you if you don't want any... problems." Camilla unsheathed her front claws at the final word and scratched at the dirt beneath her paws. "Do I make myself clear, Waffle?"

"...yes, Camilla," Waffle responded, wondering if he was making the right choice... then again, it was better than going back home... having made up his mind, Waffle dropped to his front paws as he was told.

"Good boy," Camilla praised him as one would praise a worthless mutt. Her tone, however, flew completely over Waffle's head.

"How much farther do we have to go?" Waffle whined yet again. Camilla waited for the urge to pin him against a tree and choke him to death to subside yet again before answering.

"Not too far. Now shut up."

Waffle nodded and continued the trip in silence.

_She's worse than Blik_, Waffle thought to himself, not daring to even mutter this opinion out loud. _But at least she's letting me stay with her. I should give her that much, I suppose... Gordon does always tell me to be grateful no matter what..._

"Max! Den! I'm back!" Camilla called out. Waffle looked up to see just who Camilla was talking to. The two cats had arrived in a clearing with three others. The first one Waffle noticed was a big hulking animal that he couldn't surely identify as a cat. He was covered with gray fur darker than Waffle's, and his bright yellow eyes held no pupils. The beast was eating something that he held between his paws; Waffle had a feeling that his meal had been alive not too long ago. After choking back the bit of vomit caused by that thought, Waffle's focus fell on a little brown tabby kitten that had just ran up to Camilla.

"Hey, Cam!" he greeted, tail wagging. "You were running a bit late, so Max and I already started eating. I hope you don't mind...

"It's OK, Den,"Camilla assured him. "I'm sorry about taking so long, it's just that I found someone in need of our help. This is Waffle Quid, our newest member. From what I understand, he's a runaway housecat. I suppose we should let him stay for a while. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Den said with a nod. The significance the newcomer's last name was not lost on him, but he knew better than to say anything about it.

"Waffle?" Camilla said, turning to him. "I suppose I should introduce the members of our little pack. The little one here is Dennis..."

"DEN," the kitten corrected.

"Yeah, don't call him Dennis, he's none too fond of that. And the big guy over there is Max," she continued, waving a paw in his direction. "He doesn't speak much."

"And who's that?" Waffle asked, pointing at the third cat sitting in the clearing. This one didn't seem as if she was very interested in Camilla at the moment. "She looks kinda like you..."

"She's my twin sister, Olympia," Camilla replied, a hint of contempt in her voice. "Hey, Lym!" Camilla called. "Are you going to come greet Waffle over here or are you just going to sit there and be rude?"

Although it didn't seem as if she truly wanted to, Olympia rose to her feet and ambled over. "Hello... Waffle, is it?" she greeted.

Waffle nodded. "Waffle Cramdilly-Quid."

Olympia's eyes widened. "Did you say Cram-"

"Aaaand no one cares about that," Camilla cut her off. "Lym, would you lead Waffle to one of the sleeping quarters? Den'll be around with food for the two of you in a bit. If there's any left, anyway."

Olympia nodded. "Come on, Waffle. This way." She walked off into the trees with Waffle closely behind. The other three watched them leave. Den waited for them to be out of sight before speaking.

"Cramdilly-Quid... like Audrey and Daniel?" he asked, making sure his memory wasn't failing him.

"That's right," Camilla replied. "I didn't ask his parents' names, but he has to be their kid. I know Daniel went and got the little twoleg lover pregnant before Max took care of things... This is it, Den. We found him. We found one of the remaining Quid cats."

"So do we get to kill him now?" Den asked, a bit too eager.

"No. Not yet. He mentioned that he has siblings, after all... I think we should wait for him to lead us right to the others, don't you think?"

"And how do we do that?" Den queried. "Ask him where his family is so we can slaughter them before his eyes?"

Camilla ignored this bit of sarcasm. "I don't think we could convince the boy, of course, but we know someone who could. For once, Olympia may be good for something..."


	3. The Search

It's still not done... scenes keep getting longer. I've had enough of splitting things into chapters before hand. Just take this next taste. MAYBE next will be last? XD

* * *

"What do you mean, he ran away?!"

Blik and Gordon were still standing at the doorway, and Blik had just revealed Waffle's whereabouts.

"You should've heard him, Gordon! He kept snickering and making fun of us... you can't tell me you wouldn't have yelled, too!" Blik snapped back in an attempt to defend what he had done.

"Well, I wouldn't have! You know how the laddie gets, Blik! Wouldn't telling him a bit more calmly have done much better?" Gordon said, trying his hardest not to raise his voice as much as he wanted to, lest he end up going against his own advice.

"You think I didn't TRY? He just wouldn't stop!" Blik yelled again.

"And what about Katilda?" Gordon continued, not replying to Blik's last comment. "Was yelling at her REALLY necessary? It sounded like she was trying to HELP!"

"I realize that it was a bad move there!" Blik shouted again, but quieted down as what he had done hit him yet again. "She probably doesn't want anything to do with me anymore..."

"Which is the least of my worries, honestly," Gordon replied. "You just chased our little brother away! It's past midnight, and we have no idea where he could possibly be!"

"Maybe he found someone to guard him until he's ready to come home?" Blik suggested hopefully.

"Or maybe he ran into someone as dangerous as Barkmeat could've been if he weren't so gullible," Gordon said. "You said it yerself; a sack of ham stands a better chance than Waffle out there!"

"Could you not be so pessimistic?!" Blik's voice once again rose. "Or would you PREFER that something happened to him?!"

"I SAID NO SUCH THING!" Gordon shouted, finally losing all composure.

"What in the world is going on, you two?"

Gordon and Blik's attention went to the top of the stairs. Hovis was standing leaning against the banister, still wearing his pajamas. His eyes were not yet fully open. After letting out a large yawn, he continued looking down at his two charges. "What could possibly have happened that you two are arguing at one o'clock in the morning?"

Gordon and Blik both answered at the same time. "Waffle's missing."

* * *

Camilla sat in her area of the forest, still unable to believe her luck. It had been three years since Daniel's and Erika's murders. Three years, and in that time not one opportunity to get to that house had surfaced. She had gotten brief glimpses of the kittens on occasion, but Audrey would always notice her and come up with some excuse to get the kids into the house. Audrey was suspicious, Camilla knew it; staking out a house inhabited by a very protective mother cat seemed incredibly dangerous. There was no way she'd ever get to one of the brats without their mother or possibly their human intervening. But then, at a time when she wasn't even searching, one came right to her. One who seemed innocent, trusting... stupid. He'd spill everything she needed to know... all she needed to do was keep her trustworthy air... 

"Camilla? He just fell asleep."

Or maybe she could just use someone who WAS trustworthy. To a point, anyway.

Camilla looked over at her sister. "Good. Did you guys talk about anything?"

"He talked about his fondness for newts and root beer, his bubble wrap collection, how he once thought he was a dog, and kept mentioning how hungry he was." Olympia listed. "You never did bring food," she pointed out.

"Max ate it all," Camilla said. "But forget about that. What about his family? Did he say anything about his family?"

"Not a thing," Olympia said. "If anything, it seemed like he was trying not to think about them. He did just run away, after all. It makes sense."

"Perhaps he'll loosen up eventually..." Camilla muttered hopefully. "Listen. Lym. I know you don't like being here very much."

Olympia turned her head and muttered something about how it wasn't that bad, but her expression gave her away; she absolutely HATED being a member of the pack.

"So how would you like to leave?"

Olympia looked up at Camilla. "What? You're... going to let me..."

Camilla nodded. "I won't pull you back like all your escape attempts. I'll let you go free. But you have to do me a favor first."

"Oh, I will!" Olympia replied, trying to hide her excitement but failing miserably. "I'll do anything, Cam... I'm almost sorry to say, but... I'll do anything to be allowed to leave..."

"It's fine, Lym, it's fine!" Camilla assured, smiling. "What I want you to do is this; get as much information from Waffle as you possibly can. You're far nicer than I am, it'll probably go quicker if you do it. I want enough information to find his siblings. Once they have all been killed, you will no longer be a member here if you so choose."

Olympia froze. "...so you want me to trick him..."

"He's Daniel's son, Lym. The son of the one who betrayed you for that spoiled rotten twolegger."

"He didn't betray me..." Olympia replied in her quiet voice. "He loved Audrey and was happy with her... I don't mind it..."

"Don't you even feel a little bit of a resentment?" Camilla pushed. "I know he was the only one you ever really talked to here. The only one you were ever friendly with. So what does he do? He runs away from you for another!" She was taking a sick delight in watching Olympia shrink back, thinking about what had happened. "He was a traitor, Olympia. Nothing but a traitor. A traitor to his species and a traitor to you. His bloodline needs to end. I need you to help me with that."

"...and you'll let me go if I do it..." Olympia muttered to herself, weighing her options.

"Yes."

"...then... I'll do it." Olympia choked out.

"I knew you'd see things my way," Camilla responded. "I suggest you get some sleep. You can start getting information from him tomorrow." Olympia nodded and began to head out. However, she stopped midway and looked back at Camilla. "Cam? I've been meaning to ask you something..."

"And what would that be?" Camilla asked.

"Well... you and Brutus... you two went for a walk a couple of months ago..." Olympia said, and then gulped, wondering if she should ask.

"And?" Camilla asked, a bit impatient.

"Brutus never came back. What did you do to him?" Olympia rushed out, and then flinched in case Camilla reacted badly to the question.

"So the others never told you," Camilla started. "Are you aware of what he did early in the year?" Camilla asked.

"No..." Olympia said. "I'm never really told anything..."

"Well, he attacked and attempted to rape a twolegger. Max caught the whole thing while out on a food run. He probably would've done it if some little black-furred runt didn't get in his way. Brutus and I went on our little walk the next day. I lead him somewhere, told him I had a lead on the Quid cats. I left him alone to 'do something of my own'... right where Max was waiting. He never even had a chance to fight back. Brutus was punished for his crime, just as it should be."

Olympia gasped harshly. "Oh... my... he never struck me as the type to..."

"It never struck me, either," Camilla said, agreeing with her litter mate for once.

"I'm almost RELIEVED to know you did that. I know you hate twoleggers, but rape is just a bit too much in any case. At least no one else is in danger from him..."

Camilla laughed hollowly. "You think I killed him for the rape attempt? I don't mind that at all! A cat is entitled to what he or she wants, and apparently she got rather rude with him after he paid her a bit of a compliment. The little twit was pretty much asking for it. What I was disgusted by was the fact that he hit on a TWOLEGGER. And I thought I had taught him they were of no use..."

Olympia gaped in horror. "Cam... you really need to get your priorities sorted..."

"And you need to learn just how useless those human sympathizers are. Now shouldn't you be going to bed about now?" Camilla asked, unwilling to pursue the subject any further.

Olympia nodded slowly without a word, aware that Camilla no longer wanted to talk about all this. Disobeying her was a dangerous thing to attempt. She headed out of Camilla's quarters and to her own, her mind stuck on what she would be trying to do the next day.

* * *

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

"Stupid alarm clock..."

Blik reached over, hit the snooze button on his bedside clock, and buried his head under the pillow, still half asleep. He didn't want to wake up just yet, and besides, Waffle would be in to pounce him and wake him up for breakfast any minute now anyway. That always happened when Blik attempted to sleep late. He continued lying there for a few minutes, waiting for that screechy "WAKEY WAKEY, BLIK!" and the pressure on the bed from Waffle jumping on it. Eventually the door slowly creaked open.

"Here he comes..." Blik muttered under his breath, clenching his eyes shut as if this would get him more sleep.

"Blik, lad? It's time to wake up. I thought I told you to set your alarm early today."

Blik snapped awake, as Gordon had just reminded him why Waffle was not there to act as an alarm. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I set the alarm... was just taking the time to wake up, that's all," Blik lied, and then yawned. "I'm not used to getting up this early, you know that."

"Well, it's for something important," Gordon reminded. "I've been up for hours now, waiting for you. I just can't sleep... I'm so worried about what could have happened. Aren't you?"

"What kind of brother would I be if I wasn't?" Blik asked, a scheming smile appearing on his face. "If anyone or anything has got Waffle, we are going to find them and make them regret they ever came across one of the Cramdilly brothers!" He hopped out of bed and punched a fist in the air in an attempt to look ready to fight.

"Well, you seem a little more eager than usual," Gordon observed, chuckling. "Would this have anything to do with the fact that this is all your fault?"

"...shut up," Blik muttered, his arms falling to his side.

"I'm sorry, Blik," Gordon said, "it's just that I've never seen you so enthusiastic about something like this. That's normally my job, if you could say that."

"You do have a point, though," Blik replied. "After all, this IS my fault. I'm the one who yelled, so I should do something about it, shouldn't I?"

"Seriously, Blik," Gordon said, one eyebrow raised. "This isn't like you. What's going on here?"

"Katilda," Blik said almost inaudibly.

"I should've guessed," Gordon said. "Just trying to get something you want. Just as usual. Now there's the brother I know."

"It's not that, not quite," Blik said in an attempt at defense. "Maybe if I show her that I DO care about my family- don't look at me like that, Gordon, you KNOW I do, as bad as I am at showing it- she'll come back. BUT THAT'S NOT MY ONLY REASON, JUST A LITTLE ONE THAT COMBINES WITH MY CARE FOR MY OWN BROTHER ENOUGH TO GET ME TRULY EAGER TO DO THIS, SO STOP THAT, GORDON!" he snarled at his brother, who was rolling his eyes and tutting.

"Whatever you say, Blik. Whatever you say," Gordon said before letting in a final tut. "I know I'm not changing your take on it, and as long as you're willing to help, I don't really care what reason you give."

"Um... that's good?" Blik responded, unsure if it really was.

"But that doesn't matter," Gordon responded. "I was thinking this morning, and I'm not sure if just us two can do this. Therefore, I've enlisted a bit of help."

"And who would that be?" Blik asked. Gordon turned to the door and let out a series of squeaking noises. His fake accent still came through, making for quite the aural irritant in Blik's opinion.

"What in the world was that for?!" Blik asked Gordon, flinching.

"Just calling in our little assistant," Gordon answered.

"...no," Blik said firmly. "No. It is NOT coming! Whichever one of those annoying little things you invited, it's not coming with us!"

"Come on, Blik!" Gordon said. "If anyone can convince him to come back, it's definitely Gomez! You know how close those two are!"

"I am not letting a blasted newt into my truck," Blik insisted, crossing his arms. "That's final." He then looked down to see Gomez standing right at his feet.

"Squeak," Gomez squeaked, sounding rather angry. He glared up at Blik as best as a newt could.

"I think you've offended him, lad," Gordon said.

"Do you think I care?" Blik asked, arms still crossed. "We'll cover ground quicker in Gear, and I am NOT letting a newt into my truck! He is NOT com- what the?!" Blik looked down to see Gomez with his mouth firmly placed around his foot. "It bit me!" He began to shake his foot, but the newt would not dislodge.

"...Mr. Blik? He does not have TEETH," Gordon pointed out.

"But now I've got newt drool in my fur," Blik whined. He then looked down at Gomez. "What's it going to take to get you to let go, you little amphibious demon?!"

"Let him help?" Gordon suggested. "Looks like he's coming anyway, but if you'd like, he could come attached to your toes."

"...fine," Blik sighed. He closed his eyes and shook his head, thoroughly disgusted about what he was about to decide. "If I let you come with us to look for your owner, Gomez, will you let go of me?"

Gomez nodded with Blik's foot still in his mouth.

"All right, then. You can come. But if you mess up my truck, I'm running you over with it."

The newt let go and squeaked something at Blik.

"Why do I have a feeling that Gomez just sassed me?" Blik muttered to himself.

"Because he did," Gordon answered. "Something about how newts aren't as filthy as you say and you'll be lucky to not find Gear trashed after this whole mess is over and Waffle is safe, but you'll never be able to prove it was him."

Blik blinked in shock. "Where in the world did you learn... what does Waffle call it... Newtegese? Is that it? Why do you KNOW it?"

"You pick up some things when you pay attention," Gordon said with a shrug.

"Well, whatever," Blik said and began heading out of the room. "I'll be ready in a bit. I just have to go boil my foot."

* * *

Olympia walked into Waffle's clearing with a scrap of meat clutched in her jaws. She walked over to the sleeping Waffle and dropped it next to him.

"Waffle?" she said quietly, almost not wanting to wake him up. "I brought breakfast... you never did eat last night."

Waffle's eyes slowly opened as he sniffed around. He looked down at the meat, gave it a sniff, and flinched back. "...Olympia?" he asked. "Not to be rude, but... what IS this?"

"I have no clue," Olympia said with a chuckle. "Max brought it back."

"It smells like my brother's cooking," Waffle said.

"So I'm guessing that he's not a very good chef," Olympia said, lying down and making herself comfortable.

"I wouldn't say he's a bad cook, exactly," Waffle replied. "He can follow a recipe just fine. It's just... he has this thing for Scottish food..."

Olympia cringed. "Which I hear is completely awful."

Waffle nodded. "Though he does try... he just wants to take some of the load off of Hovis, and I suppose he's a good person for that."

"Hovis?" Olympia asked, taking an extreme interest. It seemed as if he was about to talk about his home life... just what she needed to hear.

"Our butler," Waffle explained. "He's a human, used to serve our old owner, and I don't think he likes us much. Something to do with how a human should be a cat's master and not the other way around. At least, that's what he says."

"Some humans do think that," Olympia said with a nod, filing the fact that Waffle's family had a butler away in her mind. After all, the fact that they seemed pretty well off may have been important.

"But Blik says that cats are the Earth's true masters and Gordon says that humans and cats should be equals, and... well, I really don't know," Waffle went on. "They're my brothers, by the way," he pointed out, noticing Olympia's confusion.

"Blik sounds kind of like my own sister," Olympia said, "though I'm not sure I agree with that view of things."

_What are you saying?!_, Olympia thought as soon as the words left her mouth. _If Camilla heard you say that there's no WAY you'd be leaving in one piece!_

"I really don't see why it SHOULD be a problem," Waffle said. "I've known as many good humans as I've known bad. Hovis really isn't that awful a person, I think Blik just gets on his nerves sometimes... my old owner Edna was really nice, would've done anything for us cats, and of all the things she could've done with her millions, she gave it to my brothers and me... Gordon's desperately in love with a human girl and I don't think he could've chosen a better person... where do some cats get the idea that humans are monsters?"

"Personal experience can taint someone's opinion like you wouldn't believe," Olympia said with a heavy sigh. "But never mind that. You say your brother's in love with a human?" she continued, trying once again to get more information about the Quids rather than discuss her own life and opinions. That wasn't what she was sent to do.

Waffle nodded. "Her name's Kimberly. Gordon's absolutely obsessed with her, really, and if anyone needed proof that humans aren't all bad... I haven't seen it myself, but he's told me about a lot of times when Kimberly's friends have made fun of him for one reason or another and she'd always come to defend him. Does that sound like a bad person to you?"

Olympia shook her head. "I just wish I could say that I've met humans like that, but..."  
"What do you mean?" Waffle asked as Olympia trailed off.

"...nothing," Olympia finally said, rising to her feet. "I should probably leave you to your breakfast," she said. "I'll see you later."

"All right," Waffle responded. "See ya." With that, he dug into the strange lump of meat in front of him, attempting to force it down despite the taste.

Olympia watched for a few seconds, pitying the fact that this pampered rich cat was being more or less forced to eat ancient meat that may have not been edible anymore.

"You know... if you want, you can go out and look for something else to eat," Olympia said. "Maybe you'll have better luck than Max did."

"Cam told me I wasn't allowed to leave," Waffle responded, and then turned his head and spat, trying to remove the taste from his mouth. "Said others aren't supposed to know unless she's the one who brought them and there's the risk of being followed and that I'm not knowledgeable like her or Max. Not enough to know what to do," he finished, and then spat once again. It still didn't work.

"I'll cover for ya," Olympia assured him. "You go on and find something for yourself, OK? It's really not fair to make you eat that gunk when you're not used to it."

"Well, if you're sure I won't get caught," Waffle said, standing up on four paws. "I'll try to be fast! I'll be back soon!" And with that, Waffle turned and ran off through the trees.

"What have I done..." Olympia wondered to herself as she watched him go. "If Cam finds out-"

"LYM!"

Olympia turned to the source of the sound. With a sigh, she turned to go. "OK, whatever you tell Cam about him, he's still in these woods... play your cards right, Lym, and you can escape AND save him..."

* * *

Whether Blik made good or not on his promise to boil the newt drool out of his fur, Gordon never did figure out. He didn't think he would, but when Blik came out, it was obvious that he had attempted something to wash it out. The chewed paw was the only part of him that was wet, and its fur looked slightly more well-kept than the rest. Gordon opened his mouth to comment, but the look on Blik's fact suggested that saying anything would have been a bad idea. Therefore, his planned sentence of 'I know this is urgent, but are we really in such a rush that that's all you had time to do?' changed to, "Do we have everything we need?"

"We have you, we have me, we have Gomez, we have Gear," Blik rattled off. "What else could we possibly need to have with us?"

"Figured I should ask," Gordon said, still trying to cover up his almost-mistake. "Well, if we're all set, I guess we should-" he started to say as he turned to head towards the truck, but unexpectedly found himself face-to-face with a blond-furred cat.

"Hello," she greeted with a smirk. "Going somewhere without cluing me in, are you?"

"I'm sorry, lass," Gordon apologized. "It's just... well, we're in a hurry. Waffle could be in danger, and-"

"Back up, back up!" Katilda interrupted. "So you're going on a RESCUE MISSION without me? Why, Gordon! I must say I'm offended!" Her continuing smirk gave away the fact that she was not being entirely serious.

"Aw, I'm sorry, lass, I should have thought-"

"Yes, you should've. Who saved you from that giant truck? And what about that whole incident, with, oh what was the stupid thing's name, Commander Nugget-"

"His NAME is COMMODORE NOUGAT," Blik corrected without thinking, and then immediately slapped his paw over his mouth.

"So you still care about that thing?" Katilda chuckled. "Hello, by the way."

"...hello," Blik muttered, his eyes suddenly turned towards the ground.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I've already proved myself capable, haven't I? I'll be a big help and you KNOW it. I'm coming along," Katilda said, completely ignoring Blik.

"Fine by me," Gordon replied. "Right, Blik?"

Blik simply mumbled incoherently and headed towards Gear. "I drive and she sits in the back," Blik finally said, hopping into the truck. "Are you hairballs coming or what? Come on, we're in a hurry here!"

"He'll get over it and apologize eventually, I know it," Gordon told Katilda quietly as the two of them went for the vehicle, Gomez at their heels. "Just give him time. You know how the lad can be."

"We'll see what happens there," Katilda responded, taking her place in the the back seat.

"And away we go!" Blik announced, flooring the gas pedal and barreling down the street, his usual disregard of pedestrians and traffic laws even higher now that things really were urgent.


	4. It Finally Ends

"It's simply that I don't see why you refuse to check a few points where we think the lad might have gone..."

"If he settled on a place he's probably safe there. What we need to do is first look on the streets, see if he's been wandering around since last night."

"But if we laid out a plan on where to check-"

"By the time we lay out a plan we could have looked everywhere already. Come on, Gordon, you're the one who said that this is an emergency! We don't have time for plans!"

"Oh, so we're going to roam around aimlessly, possibly looking in the same spots more than once while leaving others out? Is that your plan, Blik?"

"And YOUR plan is to sit there making maps while our brother could be in danger! Yeah, that's a good one!"

"Would you two stop that?" Katilda asked the bickering brothers calmly. "It's giving me a headache and you're probably not keeping a very good lookout if you're just going to yell at each other."

"Squeak," Gomez added.

"Gomez is right, Blik, you need to keep your eyes on the road," Gordon translated for Blik.

"Whatever, mapmaker," Blik sneered, putting his full attention on the road. He had slowed down considerably, partially so he could keep a better watch for Waffle and partially because Katilda had scolded him for putting the car's passengers and the pedestrians surrounding it in danger. Going along with whatever she said seemed the best idea for now; as much of a hit as his pride would take, there were certain things to gain...

He shook his head clear of that and returned to the task at hand. "So, anyway, we've been on the road for about an hour now and there hasn't been any sign of Waffle... I'm starting to get worri-"

"SQUEAK!" Gomez said, possibly meaning "LOOK!" Gordon didn't translate, as his meaning was obvious enough. He jumped up onto the side of the car and squeaked again, trying to catch the attention of the cat just turning the corner and walking onto the block. He had a scrap of chicken in his mouth, likely from a fast food restaurant chain, and was awkwardly making his way on all four paws.

"Waffle!" all three cats called.

Waffle turned his head at the sound of his name. He stared blankly at his brothers, neighbor, and pet, unwilling to let go of his breakfast in order to talk.

"What in the world are you doing?" Blik yelled. "Come on, Waffle, get over here! You're coming home whether you like it or not!"

The gray cat simply shook his head wordlessly and continued along. He turned into an alleyway, scrabbled onto a discarded box, and used it as a boost to jump over the wall and out of sight.

"What... what just happened?" Gordon asked.

"I think Waffle just refused," Katilda answered, although it was very clear to all involved.

"Squeak..." Gomez made a dejected sound and flopped down onto the side of the car.

"But why?" Blik asked. "Why doesn't he want to come home?"

"Because of YOU," Gordon snapped at his brother. "Because you have to keep bossing him around and yelling! You pushed him over the edge! This is all your fault!"

"My fault?!" Blik began to yell back. "My fault that he's so soft he can't take it?! Let me tell you something, Gordon-"

"I thought I asked you two to shut up," Katilda said with a sigh. "You're accusing each other of not accomplishing anything, but look at yourselves! You're not doing much either, you know." She then reached over, pulled the handle of the car door, and hopped down to the ground.

"And where do you think you're going?!" Blik snapped, his crankiness knowing no victim in particular. All he knew was that he was tired, frustrated, and just wanted to go back to bed and wake up to Waffle jumping him and pushing him onto the floor, squealing about breakfast.

"I THINK that I'm allowed to go wherever I want, BLIK," Katilda cracked back, having taken enough from him for the day. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going after Waffle." She walked towards the wall and looked up. "We should probably go over there and figure out what's going on, right?"

"But we don't know what's THERE," Blik pointed out.

"Which is exactly why we should," Gordon said. "We don't know whether Waffle's in danger, and therefore we should run in and look!"

"So says Mr. Let's-Not-Rush-Let's-Make-A-Map," Blik sneered.

"Are you going to argue or are you going to help?!" Katilda yelled, pulling herself up onto the box. "Come ON!"

Gomez was the first to move. He scrambled off of the edge of the car, hit the ground, shook off the impact, and continued on toward where Katilda was.

"Squeak?" he questioned, looking back at Gordon and Blik, who remained in the truck arguing. "Squeak! SQUEAK! **SQUEAK!"**

This last squeak was loud enough to snap the two of them out of their arguing. They turned their heads and watched Katilda, silent.

"I'll ask one more time," Katilda said, arms folded and foot tapping. "Are you coming or not?"

"Aye," Gordon replied, "whether or not BLIK is." With that, he leaped out of Gear without opening the door and walked over to the alley.

"And what about you, Blik? Going to help or going to sit in the truck pouting?" Katilda called over.

Blik grumbled something under his breath which went unheard and hopped out of the truck, actually taking the time to open and shut his door. "So we're doing it, then," he said. "Just let me clarify; so we are actually going into unknown territory without knowing what could possibly be over there, knowing it may get us all killed. We're actually doing this." Although his words were phrased as questions, there was no such inflection in his voice.

"Pretty much, yeah," Katilda answered, pulling herself onto the box. "It's me, a lizard-"

"SQUEAK!" Gomez answered, offended.

"A newt, sorry- a brave 'Scottish' warrior, and the biggest coward in Bakersfield. Interesting party we make." She punched her paw into the air in a stance not unlike Gordon's usual. "For Waffle!" she cried, leaping up and over the wall. Gordon and Blik followed.

"Squeak!" Gomez cried, sitting on the pavement. Blik poked his head up from the other side and stared at the newt.

"Do I seriously have to?" he asked. Gomez simply nodded. With a harsh sigh, Blik climbed back over, scooped Gomez into his paws, and after taking a few seconds to decide how to get Gomez with the others, simply threw him over the wall, not particularly caring what Gomez thought of the plan. He then scrambled back and out of sight.

* * *

"How'd it go?"

Waffle had just made it back to his clearing, still clutching his breakfast. He plopped himself down next to Olympia, who apparently had been waiting there since he left, and started tearing into the piece of chicken.

"Purty gud," he answered her, mouth filled with greasy chicken skin. "Ah dun noo whin thish ish frum, but-"

"...swallow please?" Olympia requested, cringing at the sight of crunchy bits flying from Waffle's mouth.

Waffle obliged. "Sorry..." he muttered before returning to eating without a word. Olympia waited for the bone to be picked clean before speaking again. "So, how did it go? You can answer with your mouth empty now," she pointed out, slightly cheekily.

"Good, I guess," Waffle answered with a slight shrug. "I did find food, though I don't know how old it was. I'm just gonna hope someone threw it out last night and not earlier."

"I guess we'll figure out later, depending on whether you begin to puke or not," Olympia joked, poking Waffle in the shoulder. He smiled slightly, but the smile quickly faded as he began to think.

"Lym?" he asked. "Lym, what if I wanted to- to leave here and go back home?"

"NO!" Olympia shouted, perhaps a bit too forcefully. "No, Waffle, you can't leave!"

"Why not?" Waffle asked.

"Well... just... why?" Olympia deflected. "Why leave? I mean, you said things were getting pretty rough at home... are you sure you'd want to go back there?" As she sat she racked her brain for excuses to keep Waffle there. _I understand perfectly why you'd want to leave... _Olympia thought to herself, words she longed to say but couldn't take the risk to. _But I want to leave too... it's you or me, Waffle... I wish we could both escape... I'm so sorry..._

"It's just... I ran away before, thinking they didn't want me around, and they came looking for me anyway. I don't see why it would be any different. It's NOT any different. Listen, Lym, while I was out, I ran into-"

"OUT?!"

Waffle and Olympia turned their heads towards the shout. Camilla stepped into the clearing, wearing a look that could have killed if she were so inclined. "OUT?!" she screeched again. "I told you... Lym." she said, an eerie calm coming upon her. "Did I not tell you to keep an eye on dear Waffle here?"

"...yes, Camilla," Olympia responded in a monotone, suddenly sitting up rigid.

"What was Waffle not to do?" Camilla continued the questioning.

"He was not to leave the woods," Olympia answered, still in a monotone.

"And what did you tell me about his whereabouts when we talked earlier?" Camilla's stern questions.

"I told you he was simply exploring the woods." Olympia's dull, lifeless answers.

"But you lied," Camilla said, in a calm voice that was somehow more frightening than if she had yelled. "You lied to me. You allowed him to leave. And do you know who will pay for that?"

"Me, Camilla," Olympia replied, bracing herself for a slash.

"No, Lym. Not you. Not this time. You see, Olympia, if you had not allowed Waffle to leave, he would not have been seen. If he had not been seen, then a certain four people would not have trespassed. And if these four people did not trespass... well, they just may have lived to see tomorrow. MAX! DENNIS!" she turned her head and called. "Lead them in!"

"Watch it, you giant freak, you're messing up my fur!"

"In the name of the Highland Quid clan, you shall pay for this!"

"Let go of me! You can't do this! You'll regret it, I promise you that!"

"SQUEAK!"

Max and Dennis stepped into sight. Dennis was holding Gomez in his mouth by the tail as he squirmed for freedom. "Look what I caught!" he announced proudly, still keeping his grip on the newt. "I just sneaked behind it and pounced it! It didn't stand a chance! Then it started squeaking and then THOSE three came along to figure out what happened to the stupid thing. Max helped with those. You know 'em, Waffle?"

Max was as usual without speech, but also as usual he had no need to utter a word. He had Gordon and Katilda in his paws; both had their arms tied behind their backs by some sort of plant material. Blik was also restrained in a similar manner, only instead of being held in Max's paws, he was being held up in his jaws. Max opened his mouth, allowing Blik to drop to the ground, and threw Gordon and Katilda onto the pile.

"What's going on here?!" Blik shouted. "Waffle, what the hell is going on?! Who ARE these people?!"

"Blik! Gordon! Katilda!" Waffle cried out. "My brothers! And Katilda! Why'd you follow me? You shouldn't have followed me!"

"Brothers?" Camilla's ears perked up. "So my hunch was right..." She laid down in front of the pile, curled her tail around herself, and smirked at her captives. "So I've finally found the Quid cats. And who might you be?" she asked, turning her head to face Katilda. "Blonde fur... brown hair... actual hair, that means there's human blood in you, that's just sick..."

"What?!" Blik stammered. "You mean my girlfriend is- she's- Katilda, why didn't you-"

"Girlfriend? You're DATING this thing?" Camilla answered, rather stunned. "This family has stooped far too low." Her attention once again returned to Katilda. "I'm trying to figure out why you look so... familiar. Does the name 'Brutus' ring any bells?"

"You mean that rapist pig?" Katilda spat, not frightened in the least. "Yeah, I believe I've met him."

"And the RUNT that he had to fend off... YOU," she snapped at Blik. "One of the filthy little Quids! He almost KILLED you! Why the hell did he not KILL you?!" she snarled, but quickly regained composure. "But no matter... I'll simply have to finish what he started." Camilla stood up and unsheathed her claws. "All three of you! The remaining pieces of the Quid bloodline! You're finally finished! This is it! It's time-"

"NO!"

Olympia never could quite figure out what prompted her reaction. If, five minutes before, someone had told her that she would have attacked her own sister, her litter mate, she would have suggested that the said someone was completely mad. But now here she was, hopped up on adrenaline and tackling Camilla down to the dirt.

"They didn't DO anything! LEAVE THEM ALONE, CAM!" Olympia hissed, slicing open the side of Camilla's face with a single swipe of her paw.

Waffle took advantage of everyone else's stunned reaction. As Max, Dennis, and Camilla all stared at Olympia, mouths agape, he slinked over to his family and friend and began pulling at the vines. They gave way with little work from Waffle's claws.

"Great, I'm free, let's go before the big lug here gets what little thought he may possess back!" Blik suggested in a hushed whisper.

"...I can't," Waffle said. "I won't. Not without Olympia. Blik, they'll tear her apart!"

"And why would I care?" Blik asked, walking away.

"I... can't believe... she'd... ESCAPEES!" Dennis suddenly cried, noticing as the final vine fell away from Katilda's wrists. This shout allowed Gomez to drop to the ground; the newt quickly stole the opportunity to run like hell. Dennis neither noticed nor cared. Instead, he shouted, "Max, buddy! C'mon, help me out here!"

And with that command, all-out war broke out. Not knowing what else to do, Waffle went after Dennis, hoping that his age indicated a lack of skill. Upon discovering that this was obviously not the case, he instead went for a dodging tactic, leading Dennis away from the rest of the fight. Blik, Gordon, and Katilda were not facing much better with Max; it took a team of three to leaving any hopes at all of things being somewhat even against the monster, and even then all that could be done was distracting him away from everything else. In the middle of the clearing, Camilla and Olympia duked it out on their own, paying little regard to the fighting around.

"You RAT," Camilla hissed, staring Olympia down. "You treacherous little rat. Picking them over me? Your own sister?"

"Murdering for petty, insignificant things such as heritage? Home life? Associations? I'm not the rat here, Camilla," Olympia retaliated. "I don't care that you're my sister... YOU'RE A MONSTER! YOU'RE A MONSTER AND YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN!" She pounced again, pinning Camilla back onto the ground, and placed her paw on Camilla's throat.

"Would you really?" Camilla asked, her expression blank.

"Do you want to try me?" Olympia asked, pressing her paw down. "I could do it. All I would have to do is unsheathe my claws... and then what?"

"And then I'd die," Camilla said simply. "But do you seriously have the guts? And just remember, I'm only one cat! There's others who would be more than happy to follow my same views, my same goals! You human lovers can't possibly win! You're too soft! You can't win a war! You'll never make it, Olympia! Never!"

"I'm still going to try," Olympia answered, "and you can't stop me... you won't be able to stop me. Not anymore." All was silent as she raised her paw, readied her claws, and raked them across her sister's neck. It happened so quick that Camilla had no time to realize that she was dying. She howled in pain out of pure reflex before her eyes closed and her head flopped to the side. All of the action simply stopped at this sound. Every single cat in the area had stopped dead in their tracks and looked to find the source of this noise.

"What in the world-" Dennis wondered aloud as he looked over. He grinned in sick delight at the sight of the dead calico. "Camilla!" he called out. "You did it! You killed her! You-"

"I'm not Camilla," Olympia responded. "I believe you have things backwards?" She stepped off of her sister and walked over to Dennis, grinning wickedly down at the kitten.

"Since when do YOU kill people?" Dennis asked, mouth agape and eyes wide, realizing just what Olympia had done. "Wimpy little coward Olympia, nice to everyone, never fights back, resident whipping girl... what did you DO?"

"I defended this family here," she responded, waving her paw in the direction of the brothers. "Funny what a rush of adrenaline can do... and I do believe I still have some left."

"Don't bother," Dennis scoffed. "You won, didn't you? Felled the leader and all that. I'm not stupid enough to fight you now, not after that little show, and as for Max..."

"He does seem a bit traumatized," Olympia observed. Indeed, Max had gone completely rigid and was staring at Camilla, his face completely blank.

"He never would do anything without Cam's command," Dennis said, "so he's completely useless. In other words, you took us down in one fell swoop. Jesus, Lym, if you could manage that then what took so long?"

"Guess I just needed a reason," Olympia answered, smiling over at Waffle. If he noticed he felt no need to react.

"Well, congratulations on finding it," Dennis said, his voice laced with insincerity. "If that's all, then I'm gone before you go completely insane on me as well. See ya, Lym."

"But you don't have anyone, do you? Where can you stay?" Olympia asked, suddenly worried. She had, after all, killed Den's one caretaker he had ever known. Guilt and regret washed over her; as misguided as her sister had been, she had taken in Dennis and given him a life. It was more than he had before she found him. And now it was all gone...

"Do you think I'd tell you? This isn't over... I just have to hide out for a little while and figure things out. I'll be back for you and them, Olympia. Don't you fret. Come with me, Max. We can't stay here. Not with HER." The fact that Max actually moved came as a slight surprise to both Olympia and Dennis, but the kitten merely shrugged it off and left with Max in tow. A quiet came over the woods for a few moments...

"...what just happened?" Blik asked, still stunned. "What on EARTH just happened? Am I missing something?!"

* * *

"So let me get this straight..."

The cats had not left those woods for hours, and the sun was already beginning to set. Gordon, Waffle, Blik, and Katilda were all sitting around in a circle, listening as Olympia told her story. Even Gomez had returned and taken a place in Waffle's lap, although whether he was actually paying any attention to Olympia could not be determined.

"So our dad found you and your sister when you were all young, allowed you to stay with him, Camilla turned out homicidally insane and killed him because he wasn't, and then she went out to kill US for being his kids?" Blik asked, reiterating Olympia's story in one sentence.

"That's pretty much the gist of it," Olympia said with a nod. "Even I don't fully know the whole story... she seemed incredibly bitter when your mother showed up, but I'm not entirely sure why. Whatever the case, everyone who could have possibly known took the answers to the grave."

"And Brutus..." Katilda asked. "He was involved here?"

Olympia nodded. "She rescued him from some rather rotten humans. He may have died in short order at their hands."

"And THAT'S what happens when you help people," Blik said with a sigh. "They just turn on you."

"Or they save your ungrateful hide," Katilda said, poking Blik in the shoulder, but she no longer sounded angry. Rather, her face held its usual cheeky grin that tended to appear whenever she talked to him. "Don't generalize like that."

"Hey, I was DEFENDING you! Don't tell me you thought Brutus was half-decent!"

"And don't tell me you don't think Olympia had anything to do with the fact that you still have all of your limbs!"

"Are they... always like this?" Olympia asked, slightly stunned.

"Oh, no, no," Gordon said, shaking his head and chuckling. "You should see them when they fight!"

"Um... guys?" Waffle spoke up, his first words since the discussion began. "It's getting late. Don't you think we should be going?"

"He's right," Gordon agreed, standing up. "Thank you so much for protecting our brother, Olympia."

"She actually asked me to... to kill him," Olympia confessed, turning away. "I almost did... she promised me freedom if I did... I'm so sorry..."

"It's all right, lass, really!" Gordon said. "You didn't, after all. All is now well."

"If... you're sure..." Olympia said, her shy demeanor making a prompt return.

"I'm quite sure. It's been a pleasure meeting you. So long!" Gordon waved and then began to walk out of the woods with his brothers and Katilda in tow.

"Sorry I ran away..." Waffle muttered. "I didn't want to worry you guys, I... I just... got scared..."

"And I'm sorry I yelled at you, Waffle. All forgiven?" Blik asked, hoping that Waffle wouldn't get into a funk.

"All forgiven," Waffle said. He then turned and looked behind him. "Do you think we'll ever see her again?" he asked his brothers.

"Oh, yeah, sure we will," Blik responded. "She'll find us and you'll start to hit it off with her and then the kittens will come and-"

"She's as old as dad would be!" Waffle cried in horror, blushing furiously.

"So?" Blik asked, snickering. "My brother finally has a girlfriend... took you long enough, didn't it?"

"Leave him be, Blik," Gordon said. "If it happens, then so be it, but-"

"I didn't like her like that!" Waffle continued to protest. "C'mon, guys..."

"Now, if anything DOES happen, Waffle, perhaps I should help you better under stand us girls and what makes us tick," Katilda said, ignoring Waffle completely. "First of all-"

"Stooop!" Waffle whined, but no one around listened. Blik kept shouting taunts, Gordon went on with reassurances, and Katilda couldn't help but contribute tips.

"Squeak..." Gomez squeaked in resignation. It was annoying, true, but at least it finally meant normalcy had returned...

...at any rate, the closest to normalcy they would ever reach.

* * *

"It's over... it's all finally over..." 

Olympia sat where she had been, sighing heavily. It was simply astounding to her how much had happened in that day; the day before she was as trapped as ever, and now here she was, sitting next to her sister's dead body.

"And it was my doing, too..." She gave the body a final look, stood, and walked away, unable to be there anymore.

"A walk. That's what I need. A good walk," Olympia muttered to herself, pushing aside a branch and stepping into the trees. She was surprised to see that she was not alone. A small pink cat was sitting on a log and watching her wordlessly.

"Erika...?" Olympia asked. "Erika! I thought... I thought Max..."

"I saw everything," Erika said, as if she didn't hear a word Olympia had said. "Where did you get the guts to do that, Lym?"

"I had to save your nephew," Olympia defended herself. "There was just... no other way..."

"At least it's all over... I'm grateful for that, at least. The Quids can go on in peace." Erika continued.

"I don't think they even knew they COULDN'T until today," Olympia joked, but Erika did not even crack a smile. Instead, she turned her head in the direction that her nephews had taken. "Waffle, was it? I wonder who came up with THAT name... whatever the case, he seemed like a good kid. I'd keep an eye on him if I were you."

"Erika, what are you suggesting?" Olympia asked, but once again did not receive a response. "Why won't you answer me at all?" she asked, reaching her paw over to nudge Erika. It went right through.

"And in case you're wondering, Lym... I can't hear you. Danny asked me to check up on you today... I don't know whether he knew this was going to happen, but knowing him, perhaps he figured on it happening eventually. It was nice talking to you again, although we couldn't really have a conversation. I hate to be so grim, but... perhaps we will one day..." Erika smiled, and then slowly began to fade away.

Olympia was once again alone.


End file.
